Ok, I got the windshield out today to fix the dash. It was worse that I had hoped for. Anybody have any ideas on how to fix it? Here are some pictures of the damage. Thanks Dan
The glass didn't make out too good either. It was rusred in so bad, I couldn't get the wire I was using to cut the rubber out. I thought I had it all pretty good, but not the upper corner by the drivers head. Here are the results. Dan
Sorry to say Dan but that's quite the parts car ya got there. Start looking for another and begin the disassembling.
..........It can be fixed, just bondo it. :laugh: No, seriously though, it would take a lot of work and time to fix it, but it could be done. If you got a metal sander, a metal cutting machine/blade, and make some measurements, find some metal that will work, get a welder, and work away, or look around and get some estimates to fix it. Like I said, it can be done, it is not impossible, but it will be time consuming. I say go for the fix :TU:
I agree with Bill...In my opinion,to do this right,you will at least need a donor car with a good cowl plus a top also.If you aren't a real decent auto bodyman,I'd skip it.There is alot of work to salvage something this bad.Unless it has very sentimental value or is a highly sought after car or at least 100% numbers matching,I'd give it a rethink.If by chance the car isn't at least a GS,that is something else to ponder.You have alot of work on this car but,by no means it doesn't fit into never being able to fix it.Its all in how much work you want to do and how much money you want to spend.A cheap get it fixed and get rid of it idea is to Fiberglass it and patch it up,but in a little time it will resurface.I have parted several cars that were better than this but a few that was worse.Its your decision after all. Pat
Well I really want to fix it. It is a numbers matching 68 GS400 Convertible. If I get into a real bind, I think I can get my brother (who does body work for a living) to help me out. Anybody have any odeas where I might be able to get a donor piece? Thanks Dan :3gears:
I've seen one that bad once and it was fixed. It took a doner cowl. He drilled out about a million spot welds and spent many many hours on it. Turned out nice though. Would you believe it was also a 68 GS 400 conv. Good luck with your project.
Dan, first...deep breaths. I had a very similar issue with my back window. It can be fixed. If you are not going to find a donor cowl then here's how to proceed. The first thing to do is paint naval jelly all over everything, underneath as well. This will show you clearly where the rust stops and metal begins. Then start grinding and cutting away all the areas that fall apart. You will be left with big holes and gaps throughout. You can use "flex edging" mesh to fill these gaps. If you weld, great, if not, you can put screws in where needed and grind them down later. Do a good job filling the gaps with metal before using "body filler" and it will work out nicely. I'll look for my pics from when I did my back window and post them later. Mine was not as bad as yours but I was pretty freaked out at first too.
possible donor Are the windshield and cowl measurements the same for a convert. and a custom the same? If so I have a 68 custom I was going to start parting out. I'll take a look to see if there's any rust(my memory says that there wasn't) on it. I know Nebraska is a ways away but I have friends heading to BG in May. Let me know, anyone, if this might work. Thanks, P.D.
Dan, mine was horrible and I fixed it. Mine was rotted all the way from side to side, along the top, and up to the defroster ports. It's a major PITA and it's very difficult at best. It was my excuse to buy a good welder. You will have trouble finding a good solid cowl, and replacing it is prolly just as hard as fixing what you have. First, you will need to cut out whats rusty, and piece it in with sheet metal. 22 guage is easier to work with, but it is tricky to weld.......you need a welder with a very stable arc for welding thin metal. 20 guage is easier to weld, but way tougher to shape. You have to work with pieces in order to make the shapes and coutours. Just weld all the seams, and when you're done use bondo to smooth things out. You should grind out the welds smooth first. If you are patient, and take your time you can get the sheetmetal close enough so that you will need less than 1/8" of bondo. The trick is using pieces and welding them all together......I wish I had photo's but I don't. All I can say is tack them first all the way around and when you're satisfied with the results then weld up the seams. It's a good idea to test fit the glass first, although the sealer tape is a little forgiving. Mine ended up being within 1/4" from the thinnest to the thickest spot between the glass and the metal lip, a lot but it worked. Lap welds work best, but you can butt weld it's just harder to do. I had a combination of both. You must stagger the welds to control the heat or else you will end up with swiss cheese. If you can't weld, (neither could I......this was my first project and when I was done believe me I could weld!) just get the welder and learn how. Practice a lot first.....clean metal welds easiest. You will need a welder for other things anyway, and the $2,400 I spent on mine I have gotten back tenfold over the past 5 years I have owned it. I got a Miller 185 Mig welder. Wire welders are no good for sheet metal work, and cheap mig's won't weld thin metal. Don't worry about having bondo in your car........if it's applied over sound metal with no seams for moisture to penetrate through it will last for a long time. Good luck! :bglasses:
I don't know. I was told the windshields are different, but not sure how. The top I can patch together. It has only 2 small bad spots on it. The rest is pretty solid. If the cowl will work, great. It will save some time anyway. Let me know how it looks. Thanks Dan
Oops! Sorry Dan. I thought you were talking about the '66 Skylark thats in your signature. I wouldn't have made the same comment knowing it was a GS400. You are going to need a donor to replace the entire cowl area if you're going to do it right. I believe all 68-69 cowl areas are candidates. What shape are the pillar posts? How far up the post is the rot? This will determine whether you have to look for a 'vert or not. I've seen cars in much worse shape brought back from the grave. Done a few myself. Someone posted before, it all depends on time and how much you are willing to put into the resto. Good Luck and always keep the image of the final result in the back of your mind.
Any 68-69 BUICK A-Body will do as a donor. Get as much of it as you can. Best would be to take the whole cowl from floor to pillar top, from inside where the doors begin to right infront where the power booster mount to.This way, you will have whatever you could possibly need. As stated above, the correct way to do it would be to drill out the factory welds and mark their spots and re-weld the donor back in the same places. Mine was done years ago by a professional - a real Pro - and you could never tell. You will also need to transfer the VIN plate and body cowl tag. The 2 Vin Rivits cost $75 !!! for to friggin' rivits ( I paid less for the Donor Cowl !!), but they are exactly correct. In NY, to do it correctly, I had a police officer present to verify that the car was not being re-tagged. he signed a statement and II took a WHOLE LOTTA pictures.
In my opinion.......replacing the cowl is an awful lot of work. it would be very expensive to have done professionally......and if your cowl is toast, I wonder what other areas of the car are wasted also? If it was me, and I had access to a good cowl, I'd take the whole thing and just re-tag it if it's a solid body........as long as you do it thoroughly the only person who would know is you (as long as you don't tell anybody) :Brow: ou:
You're really not using the whole cowl. If I remember correctly, He used the top section that extends from the firewall horizontally in, to under the Dashpad. Thats where it was spliced - right under the dashpad hiding the inside (non-factory) weld line. I've had the Dashpad off, and what he did was a work of art. After paint, you'd never kow. This is a very very common area to rot out for any A-Body Convert of all GM flavors - If the car spent anything but a garaged life. The rest of my car up front was totally solid. Wish I had the pictures but There in the basement somewhere in a box I havent touched in 2 moves and 9 years ago uzzled:
Do I need to look for a donor off another convertible, or will a hard top work. The pillars look to be pretty solid, mostly just surface rust on them. I didn't have time this afternoon to really look them over and see. I'll get down there again soon, maybe with a wire wheel on the grinder to see how the pillars really look. I knew there was rust on the dash, but I didn't expect it to be that bad. I do have a mig welder to try to fix it. I'm sure I can get it done one way or another. Thanks for the replys Dan :3gears:
We need someone to make a lot of repro's for buicks like parts such as that, if there isn't already one out there that im unaware of. Someone would make a lot of money doing that.-Just a wish I guess
